Growing Trends in Elevator Modernization

How modernization can quickly pay for itself through improved energy efficiency and reduction of wear and tear on electrical and mechanical components

As India becomes a wealthier country, we are seeing increased demands for tall buildings and the elevators and escalators that come with them. Yet, even as our market grows, not all growth comes from new buildings. Our major metropolitan areas have long histories, with large numbers of old and venerable buildings that will be used for many decades to come. Since these areas are driving the vast majority of India’s economic growth, the modernization of their older buildings’ elevators and escalators has become a rapidly growing market.

As well as being stimulated by long-term Indian gross domestic product growth, the drive for elevator modernization is accelerated by two key factors: an ever-growing focus on human safety and rapidly evolving elevator technology. And, while elevator modernization often involves the upgrade of critical components to achieve better performance, safety, reliability or energy efficiency, we are also seeing a trend for elevator modernization from a purely aesthetic perspective. Examples include building owners who wish to upgrade to the latest touchscreen operating panels. 

Monarch BST — an Inovance company’s view is that any elevator older than a decade should be assessed for the modernization of critical components, particularly from the perspective of safety. Any elevator user in today’s India should expect nothing less. When it comes to public areas like metros or railways, a modern aesthetic is also important for municipal authorities who want to encourage growth by projecting a prosperous and confident image to the world.

Elevator upgrades need not be difficult. In many cases, a simple, inexpensive, partial upgrade suffices. In India, many elevators still use old, direct-on-line starters. Such elevators would always benefit from an upgrade involving variable-speed-drive technology and the latest elevator control solution. Aside from improving the user experience with smoother starts and stops, applying drive and controller technology to elevators with direct-on-line starts quickly pays for itself through improved energy efficiency and reduction of wear and tear on electrical and mechanical components. Adding the latest microprocessor-based control technology also ensures the elevator is “futureproof” — ready for future function upgrades. 

Beyond direct-on-line starters, key upgrades often required for older elevators are:

• Door systems, such as automatic doors, sensors, fire-rated doors, etc.

• Components inside and outside the car, such as intercoms

• Equipment for users with disabilities (e.g., to comply with EN 81-70) 

• Contactless features, which are particularly relevant in the context of the pandemic

Adding regenerative drives to elevators, especially high-speed and high-rise elevators, is of huge energy-saving benefit and fits into the growing trend for corporate social responsibility and action to tackle climate change.

The elevator controller is the component most often selected for upgrade. The controller is crucial, since it acts as the brain of the elevator and is responsible for the speed, leveling, and smooth functioning of the car, as well as signaling fixtures. Signaling fixtures are widely used for signaling the direction and level of the elevator and are subjected to extreme wear and tear.

At Inovance Technology India, headquartered in Chennai, we offer the NICE100+ open-loop integrated control solution for elevator controller modernization. NICE100+ is exclusively designed for controller modernization on open-loop geared elevators in the Indian market. The product is suitable for modernizing almost all older elevators, as it supports automatic, semiautomatic, and manual door solutions, as well as discrete field interfaces including car position indicators. The NICE100+ open-loop integrated control solution is designed to be implemented with minimal changes to the existing controller.